Live Births In 2005, there were 12,265 births in Delaware, 11,079 were to Delaware residents and 1,186 were to non-residents. Additionally, 524 births to Delaware residents occurred out of state, for a total of 11,603 Delaware resident births, 245 more than 2004. Delaware’s general fertility rate was 64.5 live births per 1,000 females aged 15-44 years in 2001-2005. However, when broken down into specific age groups, birth rates and trends vary substantially; comparing birth rates in 1990-1994 and 2001-2005 displays a shift toward older mothers in the distribution of birth rates. The teen (15-19) birth rate varied by county and specific teen age groups. With the exception of New Castle County teens ages 18-19, birth rates for all county and teen age groups declined from 2000-2004 to 2001-2005. Sussex County had the highest rates for both the 15-17 and 18-19 age groups. The overall trend for births to women of all races and ethnicities, aged 35 and older, has been steadily increasing. This same trend was even more pronounced when looking at the percent of live births to first-time mothers 35 and older. The age of the mother had a significant impact on the plural birth rate. Older mothers (35+) had the highest plural birth rate, which increased by 56 percent from 1989-1993 to 2001-2005, while the plural birth rate for younger women (<20) remained stable. Delaware has consistently increased the percentage of women receiving prenatal care (PNC) in the first trimester, from 80 percent in 1990-1994 to 84.7 percent in 2001-2005. Over the same time period, Wilmington, normally an area where maternal risk factors are the worst, showed a 19 percent increase in the number of women receiving prenatal care in the first trimester, from 71.0 percent in 1990-1994 to 84.7 percent in 2001-2005. Wilmington’s increase was apparent in births to both black and white mothers. As both Kent and New Castle counties extended their increasing trend of women receiving prenatal care in the first trimester, Sussex county continued its more recent decreasing trend, and became the county with the lowest percent of births to women who received prenatal care in the first trimester. The graph below illustrates how the percentages of prenatal care differ among racial and ethnic groups, and the counties as well. New Castle county had the highest rates of women receiving prenatal care in the first trimester, regardless of race; isolating Wilmington produced similar results. Another observation unique to Wilmington and New Castle County was that mothers of Hispanic origin received higher percentages of prenatal care in the first trimester than black mothers. Sussex County had the lowest percentage of black and Hispanic mothers receiving prenatal care in the first trimester, at 67.0 and 42.7 percent. The increasing trend of women using Medicaid as their primary source of payment continued in 2005. For the majority of mothers under 20 years of age , Medicaid was the primary source of payment , 79.1 percent for white and black mothers and 83.9 percent for mothers of other races. Over half of Hispanic and black mothers of all ages used Medicaid as the primary source of payment for delivery. Marital status has a tremendous effect on the use of Medicaid as a primary source of payment for delivery: 17.8 percent of white married women used Medicaid as their primary source of payment, but that number more than quadrupled, to 75.6 percent if the mother was single. 32.6 percent of black married women used Medicaid as their primary source of payment, but that number more than doubled, to 77.8 percent if the mother was single. 68.5 percent of Hispanic married women used Medicaid as their primary source of payment, and that number increased to 89.2 percent if the mother was single. 17.0 percent of married women of other races used Medicaid as their primary source of payment, but that number increased over four times, to 80.0 percent if the mother was single. The percent of births to unmarried women rose again in 2005, to 44.3 percent of all births. The steadily increasing trend began in 1990, when 29 percent of all births were to unmarried women. However, this shift in the distribution of mother’s marital status was only apparent in births to white and Hispanic women, whose percentage of births to unmarried women increased from 16 percent to 37 percent, and 42 percent to 62 percent from 1989 to 2005. During this same time period, the percent of births to unmarried black women has remained the stable, at about 71 percent of all black births. The percentage of cesarean deliveries continued its upward trend, which has increased from 23 in 1999 to 29.9 in 2005. While this was evident in deliveries from both preterm (<37 weeks gestation) and full term (37+ weeks gestation) infants, a significantly higher percentage of preterm infants were delivered by c-section than full term infants. The percentage of Delaware mothers who used tobacco while pregnant decreased from 1994 to 2005 in the three counties, while it increased in the city of Wilmington. In 2005, Kent County had the highest percentage of mothers who smoked while pregnant (13.9). The largest percent of mothers who smoked while pregnant were in the 20-24 age group, regardless of race. With the exception of black mothers, those in the 25 and older age groups had lower proportions of smokers than those in the under 20 or 20-24 age groups. White mothers were more likely to smoke while pregnant than black mothers in all age groups except the 30-34 age group, where black mothers were more likely to smoke while pregnant than white mothers. 14.9 percent of Delaware women who smoked while pregnant gave birth to low birthweight babies (< 2500 grams), versus the significantly lower percentage (8.8) of non-smokers who gave birth to low birthweight babies. The percent distribution of births by birthweight did not differ significantly between 1990 and 2005. The greatest percentage of births fell within the 3000 to 3499 gram range. The five-year average percentage of low birthweight (LBW) births continued its upward trend during the last four time periods; very low birthweight (VLBW) births have remained relatively stable. Percentages of LBW births were greatest for mothers under 15 years (16.2 percent). Black mothers of every age group had higher percentages of LBW births than white or Hispanic mothers. Among mothers of all ages, black mothers had the highest percentage of LBW and VLBW births, at 14.3 percent and 3.5 percent respectively. There was an increase in the percentage of LBW births from 1990-1994 to 2001-2005 for both black and white infants. During the same time period, the percentage of LBW births to Hispanic women decreased. Printed copies of tables, graphs, and charts can by obtained by contacting: Delaware Health Statistics Center Delaware Division of Public Health 417 Federal Street Dover, Delaware 19901 (302) 744-4541